Meta has announced its plans to link the US, India, South Africa, and Brazil by building the world’s longest undersea cable. The project could expand to include more regions in the future, as an official map published in Meta’s announcement shows Australia could also be connected, meaning five continents could be linked by a single undersea cable.
The tech giants announced that Project Waterworth, the name given to the construction plan, will involve building a 50,000 km (31,000-mile) undersea cable. It will be longer than the circumference of planet Earth.
Additionally, the cable will be the longest to utilize a 24 fiber-pair system, providing it with higher capacity, and enabling support for the company’s global AI projects. In its blog post announcing the project, Meta stated: “Project Waterworth will bring industry-leading connectivity to the US, India, Brazil, South Africa, and other key regions.” They added, “This project will enable greater economic cooperation, facilitate digital inclusion, and open opportunities for technological development in these regions.”
Meta says its proposed undersea cable, project Waterworth would accelerate progress in countries.
In the post, Meta said its proposed undersea cable could accelerate growth in beneficiary countries. The tech company gave India as an example, “In India, where we’ve already seen significant growth and investment in digital infrastructure, Waterworth will help accelerate this progress and support the country’s ambitious plans for its digital economy.”
The company has also backed itself to carry out this project. “We’ve driven infrastructure innovation with various partners over the past decade, developing more than 20 subsea cables.” The tech giants added, “This includes multiple deployments of industry-leading subsea cables of 24 fiber pairs – compared to the typical 8 to 16 fiber pairs of other new systems.”
We’ve announced our most ambitious subsea cable endeavor yet: Project Waterworth.
Once complete, the project will be world’s longest subsea cable project using the highest-capacity technology available.
Learn more:https://t.co/RI737buiKi
— Engineering at Meta (@fb_engineering) February 18, 2025
Undersea cables are crucial for the world’s connectivity, as over 95 percent of the world’s internet traffic is transferred through these cables. Lawmakers globally are concerned about how susceptible this infrastructure is to attacks. In January, NATO launched a mission to increase surveillance in the Baltic Sea after some crucial undersea cables were attacked in the region last year.
The company announced its cable system would be up to 7,000 meters deep
To address the security concerns around the undersea cable, Meta announced it would bury this cable system more than 7,000 meters (22,966 feet) deep on the sea bed and use enhanced cable burying techniques.
Meta Unveils Project Waterworth: 50,000 km Subsea Internet Cable
Meta has announced Project Waterworth, a 50,000 km subsea internet cable aimed at boosting global connectivity. The initiative will enhance internet access, especially in underserved regions, and strengthen Meta’s… pic.twitter.com/Mx5UlOtAim
— Onwords Smart Homes (@TeamOnwords) February 17, 2025
The company has also announced that “Project Waterworth will be a multi-billion dollar, multi-year investment to strengthen the scale and reliability of the world’s digital highways by opening three new oceanic corridors with the abundant, high-speed connectivity needed to drive AI innovation around the world.”